Nogne 0 has gotten some nice attention lately here in New York City where their portfolio of available brews is increasing and more people are taking notice of their excellent takes on almost any style imaginable.  When I noticed that they threw their hat in the Saison ring and was simultaneously encouraged by Stinky to check it out, I knew it was probably going to be a winner.  Nogne’s Saison pours a deep Orange color, closer to red than blonde, which right away gives it a distincitive look.  A large amount of crackling off white head is evidence of a lot of carbonation, which continuously releases a lot of great aromas for a long while after the beer is poured.  There’s apparently no extra spicing in this beer, only the aromas and flavors lent by the Saison style yeast, and that’s quite an accompilshment because there’s a lot of complexity in both departments.  Even though this is an appropriately dry Saison, there is a decent amount of maltiness and body, and the herbal and citrus notes do a lot to compliment that and prevent it from overwhelming the beer.  One of the better Saisons to come from anywhere outside of Belgium, Nogne scores again with this very balanced, very delicious version that would go very well with almost any food imaginable — I’m thinking a nice Steak, but I’m usually thinking about Steak these days, so that doesn’t say that much.

At an event at Spuyten Duyvil a little while back, I had the opportunity to sample some of the beers of Brasserie De la Senne, a Belgian brewery in the Senne Valley, where certain Belgian beer styles are said to have originated.  The beers are difficult to find in the United States, and as it was a joint “event” with the greatest brewers in the world (Cantillon), I was more than pleasantly surprised to learn that Senne’s Saison is actually blended with some of Cantillon’s young Lambic beer.  This Saison pours a pale golden color with a slighter quantity of carbonation than the Nogne version, but still enough to keep the drinkability nice and high.  There is a tartness in both aroma and flavor here, in addition to an array of sweet, spicy, and citrus notes which all come together in one of the more complex variations on any style I’ve ever had.  Easier-going than a Lambic, more adventurous than the average Saison, Senne’s version hits so many notes that really all you can say is that once again, Life is Beautiful.  Also check out Senne’s website for some of the best beer label artwork ever.

When I showed up I was pleasantly surprised to learn that minds behind 12 Percent Imports (who I raved about here) were behind bringing Hopfenstark into the city, and more than just a “tasting,” this was the celebration of the beer being available in NYC now — very cool.  We don’t get much great Canadian beer down here, and as I made my way through the list, I was pleasantly surprised by everything I tried.  Hopfenstark has a real knack with differentiating his beers from each other, and for not going too deeply into one “category” of beers to the point where other categories suffer.  Each beer had distinctions that led themselves to their styles — varying carbonation levels, varying means of fermentation and yeasts, lots of varying flavors.  I’ll give a brief rundown here of some of those selections, and will add, as usual — DRINK THIS BEER! It’s fantastic.

Blanche De L’Ermitage (5.0% ABV Witbier) – After completely overdoing the Witbier thing last year, and drinking an insane amount of Schneider-Weisse, it’s been kinda hard for me to drink Wheat Beers lately.  Hopfenstark’s Blanche De L’Ermitage, however, defied all of my expectations by providing a very unique and interesting drinking experience.  This is the beer that really had me praising the brewer’s tenacity and talent — this is a very rustic, not very integrated beer, but that doesn’t bother me at all.  It had all of the right peppery, spicey notes without overwhelming the banana (in fact it was barely present) and the spiciness and fullness of flavor kept it very drinkable, while finishing very dry and keeping you coming back for more.  Maybe the most “Saisonish” Witbier I’ve tried, with nice brisk carbonation, a tendency toward the browner side of the spectrum, and overwhelmingly exploding with flavor and aroma from spices.  Awesome.

Post Coloniale (6.0% ABV American IPA) – After seeing a big list of Saisons, I was excited to see styles like Porter and IPA represented as well.  The Post Coloniale is one of the “roughest,” most rustic IPAs I’ve ever had, and while I hate to keep harping on that term, there is a certain aggressive quality with these beers which tend toward representing all of the ideas the beer has to offer without much concern for balance or other typical designations of “quality” which I never really care about anyway.  An American IPA with a French Canadian via Belgium twist, the Post Coloniale is  a cloudy, intensely flavored beer with a very nice melange of hop aromas.  There’s not an overwhelming amount of bitterness present, whcih supports a nice malt backbone and is dried out by a low finishing gravity and a very nice piney, citrusy note at the end of the sip.  A little bit difficult to explain, but a very interesting brew, Post Coloniale is a glimpse into what other Saison Producing breweries might do if faced with the task of making an IPA, where the hops become as much of a spice as anything else.  Very nice.

Loulou Porter (5.0% ABV Porter) - A very delicious selection on cask, the Loulou had the perfect amount of carbonation, roastiness, and sweetness to make it one of the best new porters I’ve sampled in a very long time.  A nice Mapley nose is complemented with a similar initial flavor on the tongue, which dries out and makes this a very drinkable beer.  Not an overwhelming amount of chocolatey or bitter notes keeps the affair very smooth, and this dark, almost still beer could be a huge winner to replace any number of flavorless, bubbless beers anywhere in the United Kingdom, but I’d be happy to keep it all for my own.  By this point in the night, I’m very “warm.”  Let’s keep going.

Brewer Fred brought in a small quantity of a few bottles which he brought down for the events, and this included 3 Saisons, named with different numbers, for different reasons.  I’ll break down the two I tried:

Saison Station 7 (5.0% ABV Saison) – Thusly named because it is “made with 7 spices,” Saison Station 7 actually kind of refutes the points I made above about rustic, unbalanced beers and produces a mixture of spices, wild yeast, and malt that is one of the most complex and interesting Saisons I’ve had from outside of Belgium, or anywhere.  After pouring a ruddy orange color with a lot of bubbles, the nose has a good amount of spice and interesting yeast notes, and as you sip the beer, more spices poke out at you — is there Ginger? Coriander? Peppercorns? Some other traditional Witbier spicing? Or none of these? I’m not sure what the 7 spices are, but the soup is improved, as opposed to being too muddied up with all of that flavor.  A true Saison that is produced seasonally and just with whatever the brewer has around, Station  7 is an awesome selection.

Saison Station 55 (6.5% ABV Saison) – Station 55 gets its appelation from containing 55 IBUs, and this awesome, bitter Saison is one of my favorite selections of the whole night.  Similar in color and carbonation level to the 7. Station 55 marries the spicy yeast notes from the Saison yeast with the herbal, spicy, and citrusy flavors from the hops, creating an awesome marraige of classic Belgian and West Coast USA flavors, in a package with a hint of wild yeast, a hint of spice, and a hell of a lot of complex drinkability.  Another score.

I’m interested to see when this beer will be around NYC more regularly, and whether we’ll get bottles, kegs, or both.  I’m going to make it a point to try all of them — and I recommend you do the same.

Cuvee des Fleurs comes in a 750ml corked and caged green bottle like many “authentic” Saisons, but this beer reaches much more toward a historical approximation than an attempt to make a commercialized version.  Four different flowers, including hops (cheekily referred to as “H. lupulus” on the label which lists the flowers used) are added to this amber, ruddy colored ale, and they create a bouquet that is unlike any other beer I have ever smelled.  I actually am usually quite offended by any perfumey floral smells, and this beer amazingly smells like a good version of 200 year old potpourri, in a good way, or the muted smell of a huge field of wild flowers in the summertime.  Man, this beer is making me poetic.  It’s malty, somewhat bitter, and overall it is complex and interesting the entire way through.  A truly handcrafted masterpiece of a beer, and I am insanely proud that this was produced not only in America, not only in New York, but out on Long Island, only 70 miles from where I was born.  It reminds me that I need to get out there ASAP — brew dog road trip is definitely in order.

Brasserie Fantome, a small brewery started in 1988 in Soy, Belgium by Dany Prignon is in many ways the quintessential Belgian “farmhouse” brewery.  Fantome produces a variety of beers, all of which can be safely classified as “Saisons.”  What a Saison is, as a style, is a lengthy description better left to the experts, but essentially it’s a historical style which was created by any one of the myriad of home farmhouse breweries in Belgium in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  Farms made beer to sustain themselves and workers who would come to work on their farms, as beer was a safer (and clearly more delicious) alternative to drinking water for hydration and health.  Saison was typically a low ABV beer, but this has changed over time.  As farms faded away, breweries consolidated, and the tastes for beer became more mainstream, Saison as a style became more rarefied.  Today it means any number of things, and Fantome does everything it can to blur these definitions.

I’ve recently been lucky enough to sample two offerings from Fantome, which produces beers that are apparently never made the same way twice, and widely vary in quality and ingredients.  The Chocolat is a Saison made with Hot Peppers and Chocolate, and pours a beautiful orange color with a quickly dissappearing head.  The “Heat” from the Peppers was all but gone by the time I got to his Chocolat, but the chocolate was present in the aftertaste of this amazingly weird beer.  Tartness is nicely balanced by a full bodied brew that goes down smooth and continuously changes as this beer sits out.  Stinky and I shared a bottle of this while we were camping and I was amazed at the different notes that come out of this beer as it warms up — everything from cheese, chocolate, sweetness from the malt, to a touch of bitterness from the hops comes at you when you sniff, which I did quite a lot.  The flavors are the same, mysterious, beguiling, but very pleasurable.  A hard to describe beer that is very worth grabbing if it crosses your path.

The Brise-BonBons (or “Ball Breaker”) is an apparent message to the “Tough” people of the world who insist on breaking balls, talking shit, and not doing anything about it.  Farm from an empty threat, this beer, which I sampled on tap at Spuyten Duyvil in Brooklyn, is quite a statement.  Supposedly “hoppier” than Fantome’s other offerings, this beer still lacks much bitter bite, but presents a fuller and more clear approach to the sour Saison style.  Funky all the way through, but crisp and full-bodied, the Brise-BonBons suffers from none of the “Light Struck” qualities that Fantome’s beers often possess, packaged as they are in green bottles.  Because there was no skunk to be found, the full range of flavors shines through, which I am currently at a complete loss to describe.  So don’t worry, or listen to my descriptions anyway, just track the beers down, and pretend you’re in the Belgian countryside.  It’s windswept and idyllic, and you’re tipsy on true artisinal beer.  What more could you ask for?

I had seen Brooklyn’s BLAST! on the list but hadn’t heard about it previously, which is odd for a hometown brewer that I keep an eye on. Calling your beer a “San Diego Style IPA” is pretty bold, which is never a problem for Garrett Oliver, but delivering on such a claim is a whole ‘nother thing. I was definitely psyched to check it out since Green Flash’s IPA has been in heavy fridge rotation for me lately, but sadly this guy didn’t come close. There was enough hop aroma on the nose for sure, but mostly piney, and there was a woody and musty undertone that was immediately unsettling. Hop flavor was piney as well and very bitter, not balanced at all by any malt sweetness, and there was a bit of sourness to the brew as well that didn’t play at all. Total bummer vibe.

Another interesting item on the brew list for me was Magic Hat’s “experimental” Berliner Weiss, which they were serving with a squirt of either raspberry or woodruff syrup. I’ve been trying to get a handle on this style lately so I was definitely interested to see the perspective that an American craft brewer could bring to it. I tried it first without the syrup and had to take 3 sips to be sure I tasted anything. It did smell a bit sour, but the flavor was insipid, mildly wheaty if anything. The woodruff syrup wholly obliterated any flavor that might have been present and didn’t add to my enjoyment of the brew at all. Oh well, back to German Berliners.

I decided that giving the previously reviewed Southern Tier Cherry Saison another shot on draft would be a good way to see if the other brew dogs’ opinions about this one still held true. They did. On draft the oddness of the cherries on the nose seemed to be magnified. Flavor was still pretty straightforward saison, but I couldn’t get past the nose. Perhaps it was mental, but now that I’ve given this one it’s fair shake I’m ready to move on in the Southern Tier world. (Perhaps to this years Uber Sun, where is it guys?)

Stay tuned for the good stuff. And damn was there some good stuff.

I figured a nice tart low ABV brew like the Bayerischer would be the perfect way to ease into the day, and indeed it was. It poured a cloudy pale pale yellow with a light foamy white head which had some serious staying power. The nose was grapey and yeasty, almost like a crisp champagne, with hints of sourness and sweetness. Flavor was mellow mellow mellow; there was some citrus up front and some subtly complex tartness and it felt somewhat astringent. Definitely a refresher and one of the few beers I think I could drink a case of in this summer heat. I don’t have much experience with the Berliner Weiss style but I’d love to check out some more if anyone has an recommendations.

Continuing my Southern Tier kick, I chose to sample their just released Imperial Cherry Saison next. This one poured copper with a nice off-white head. I got a cocktail of fruit on the nose, dominated by cherry and banana, with some subtle spice, but nothing overwhelming. Nice balanced saison flavor without either the oak or the cherry coming on too strong, or very strong at all for that matter. Not too sweet, not too sour, not to spicy, just right for a saison, but not really as crisp or refreshing as i would have liked on such a hot day. A little stronger sour cherry profile might have helped cut the heaviness of the 8% ABV somewhat. I’m going to give it another shot when the heat is less oppressive to see what it does for me.

Belgian Saison or Farmhouse Ale is one of my favorite styles of beer and American breweries can have a wide range of success with it. Sometimes, in an attempt to make it very traditional, they end up producing something bland. Sometimes, in an attempt to make their mark on it, they completely blow the style up. Jolly Pumpkin, as usual, nails the style by providing a great base Saison and adding a disorderly amount of yeast and funk on top that is really undeniable if you have a taste for “infected” beers. The first of these 5 bottles I opened smelled so strongly of barnyard/horse manure that I almost couldn’t believe it. I’ve had 3 so far and they all have a varying amount of this over the top nose, which when you pour the beer out and let it sit a bit really mellows. Bam Biere pours a beautiful reddish gold color and the head is chunky, foamy, and leaves all kinds of crazy sediment on the side of the glass. The beer is smooth, crisp, and dry, with all kinds of awesome flavors coming through as it warms up. It’s a bit thin, which is fine, because any heavier and it would really lose some of its drinkability. For me, this is a very drinkable, truly great American take on a Belgian style, which if you have read this blog at all you know really gets me going. So yes, hit this beer with a car as many times as you want, because it’s only going to get better.